


One Of These Days We'll Get This Right

by parkadescandal, pineovercoat



Series: soriku week [4]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Crack, Feelings Realization, First Time, Frame Narrative, Future Fic, Happily Ever After, Hit With A Clue-By-Four, M/M, Missing Scene, Multiverse, Original Character(s), POV Outsider, SoRiku Week 2019, Soul Bond, Time Travel, Tropes, True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:26:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21980143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parkadescandal/pseuds/parkadescandal, https://archiveofourown.org/users/pineovercoat/pseuds/pineovercoat
Summary: Don't think thrice.(Howdidthe masters get together, anyway? or, the one in the not too distant post-canon future where a trio of apprenticed keyblade wielders each give their take on just how exactly it got to soriku endgame, actually.)
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: soriku week [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1564756
Comments: 10
Kudos: 71





	One Of These Days We'll Get This Right

**Author's Note:**

> Hey. I made OCs to get an outsider POV on the OTP. Their names are a _really_ on the nose allusion to convention and they are a loving homage to canon trio dynamics. 
> 
> Piedra's Tale: A Tale of Two Rikus was composed by pineovercoat. I humbly requested another vignette for this piece and told her to go ham, and I almost regret it, because she delivered so spectacularly what is clearly the highlight of the whole story and I'm sick with jealousy. She was also instrumental in so much of the process of this story's creation—a lot of these vignettes are based off a phenomenon we call "Today In Chat," where one of us will make an offhand joke and then we'll end up spending the next hour riffing about The Darkest Timeline in which Data-Riku becomes Skynet or the theme song to a slice of life sitcom starring Vanitas which is just a slap bass version of "Enter the Darkness." 
> 
> See end notes for minor additional content warnings.

The Mysterious Tower has manifested itself overnight directly into warmer climes, to everyone’s gratification, though none more so than Cielo, Marin, and Piedra.

Masters Sora and Riku in particular are in rare form, buoyed by a familiar humidity, and can’t seem to keep straight faces for more than the length of time it takes to call out an instruction. They break early that day, setting the trainees free to spar amongst themselves for a stretch, but the children naturally take advantage of their distraction and opt to slip quietly away instead. Cielo, Marin, and Piedra scamper in the other direction to lay out their picnic where they can keep watch and look like they’re doing something of import should either instructor happen to look up and scold them.

Said instructors remain oblivious and continue to josh around amiably, even more tactile than usual with one another. Sora gestures outward, one large sweeping motion for equal emotion, impassioned about who knows what this time. His next move is to reach up and tug Riku’s hair from its tie so that it falls around his shoulders in an unkempt cascade of platinum. He steps back with a hand on his hip and with smug triumph on his face to admire his handiwork, and laughs. Riku smiles in answer, and reaches out to give better than he got in turn, mussing his hair so aggressively that he nearly falls over. Messy spikes spring back up into cowlicks from whence they’d disappeared after his most recent haircut. Not that Cielo notices these things.

“How long do you think they’ve been together?” Marin asks drolly, still staring straight ahead. Cielo sputters.

“That’s inappropriate!” she warns, sharp, but Piedra pipes up without losing a beat.

“Long time,” she says with gravity. “Forever.”

“See, that’s what I’m thinking. Just feels right.”

“I think we’d do well _not_ to speculate on the Masters’—”

“Gotta be. Too much love.”

“It’s a breach of _trust_ and it isn’t any of our business either way!”

“Can it, Cielo. I’ll save you the trouble—in about six hours or so you’re gonna realize you’re only so uptight about it because you’re jealous. All you ever do is moon after S—”

“I _do not_! That aside, it doesn’t stop this from being a… an _extraordinarily disrespectful_ line of thought. Who are we to say? No one’s ever even said that they’re anything more than just old friends.”

“Is it necessary?”

“On the munny again, Piedra! _Old friends_ at bare minimum. You’re seeing the same thing we’re seeing, right? If that’s not what it’s supposed to look like, then I don’t want it after all.”

“What _what’s_ supposed to look like?”

“True love, dummy.”

It knocks Cielo silent. She crosses her arms and pouts. He’s got an opening and an inability to leave well enough alone, and therefore Marin continues.

“Just ‘cuz you won’t get it doesn’t mean you get to deny it.”

“Unkind,” Piedra starts, and then, emphatically, “Untrue.” It doesn’t quite stop Cielo from shoving her hands deeper into her armpits and turning her scowl even darker, but she looks down to see her earnest reflection and softens just a tad.

“I guess you’re right,” she concedes. “It does really look like… it really is—”

“Ideal.”

“See. Even you’d get it eventually. If that’s not love, I’ll never cast a spell again. Obviously there’s no magic in the world if that’s the case.”

Cielo rolls her eyes.

“You’re entirely too romantic. It’s really not all that dramatic.”

“Who says it can’t be?” he shrugs, falling back onto the grass with his head landing in his hands. “We’ve all gotta have something to aspire to.”

“Since if what you’re saying is true, you don’t have a snowball’s chance with Riku, as if you ever did before.”

“I’m content right from this vantage point,” he says, not denying a thing, and Cielo diffuses, now with not even half the heat that had caused her to launch a low blow comeback in the first place. “It’s not a bad view.”

“ _Stop it!_ You’re gross.”

“How?” Piedra says distantly, and they turn to look at her, aware she’s not asking just what’s so distasteful about Marin’s leer—she’s gazing dreamily over where the masters in question somehow manage to keep up a halfhearted spar in between peals of giggles.

“Good question. So a long time, yeah, but what exactly did it? I bet it was so dreamy.”

“Or natural.”

“If it hasn’t happened by now, do you think it would ever?”

They turn to look at Cielo, who blinks for a moment.

“You would think after everything that… they would have worked it out somehow.”

“Do tell what you have in mind, o unromantic one,” Marin prods.

Cielo takes a hard seat into a cross legged position.

“Well,” she says, gathering her thoughts. They look expectantly on. “After their first Mark of Mastery exam. You’ve heard the story, right?”

“Cautionary tale.”

“A _fairy tale_ , more like. All of them in one.”

“Right. So I’d put my munny on then.”

“But _how_.”

“Well,” Cielo says, tapping her fingers on her arm as she holds herself close. “I imagine something like that would push _something_ to the surface. But it wasn’t easy.

“Not easy at all, actually. Maybe… maybe they expected something different, too. They spent all that time connected. Maybe they’re talking about it later and it just… happens.”

“ _Happens?_ ”

“Yeah. Listen. It was exactly like this…”

> _Riku stayed with Yen Sid after the test, and listened, and listened, and listened, and then he sat._
> 
> _There was still a mess from the tea party strewn about the study which everyone else had abandoned ages ago. Riku looked blankly on at it from his vantage point next to one of the crescent moon windows. His head spun. All the new and terrible secrets that came with the title of master kept mixing around with the things he only just learned about wielding the keyblade, and the responsibility blanketed his shoulders like lead._
> 
> _The door to Yen Sid’s study opened; Sora peeked through the threshold, and grinned when he caught his eye._
> 
> _“Why do you look like_ you’re _the one who’s gonna rub something in_ my _face right now?” Riku said as he approached, unable to tamp down the answering smile._
> 
> _“Haven’t you heard?” Sora strode in his direction and grabbed another chair by the back to drag it alongside him. “My best friend did such a great job on his test that they gave him all sorts of perks.”_
> 
> _Riku shook his head and laughed as Sora arrived beside him and threw himself into his seat. He turned his gaze back to the nothingness that lay outside the window._
> 
> _“Not sure that’s what I’d call them,” Riku said. Sora blew a raspberry at him until he smiled again._
> 
> _“I really am so excited.” Sora said after a moment of silence. “I never once doubted you could do it, but now you get to see for yourself. I couldn’t be happier.”_
> 
> _Riku’s voice sounded weary, but he was betrayed by the fond look he gave him when he finally met his eye._
> 
> _“I know.”_
> 
> _“Good, because I was ready to put up a fight.” Sora whirled the chair around backwards and faced him. Their knees touched. The only thing between them was the imaginary barricade the back of the chair created. “I’m just… so proud of you,” he continued, then flung his arms around his neck and settled in comfortably._
> 
> _Riku held his arms out to fit him, then hesitated for a second before he brought them around him with as much care as he could with the chair between them._
> 
> _“You’ve always been awesome, but you’ve come so far, and I can’t believe…” Sora shuffled just a shade out of his grip and looked up at him. “I can’t believe you’re already a master and I still get to be your…”_
> 
> _He didn’t finish the thought, namely because he kissed him instead._
> 
> _Riku went stock still._
> 
> _He stayed like that when he broke away; when he returned for another Riku let his eyes fall half closed, and the third time, when Sora murmured something sweet like a wish for him, Riku finally showed some give._
> 
> _This time he didn’t return, but trailed his fingers from where he’d touched them to his neck._
> 
> _“You did a great job,” he said, standing. The chair he abandoned wobbled lightly between them. “I’m glad we talked.” With that he calmly stole out of the room without any further pretense and left Riku there to gape after him in something akin to terror._

“…And then they didn’t really talk about it.”

The other two stare at her before deciding she isn’t going to add any more. Marin glares at her with his arms crossed.

“Cielo, that’s a _really_ crummy story.”

She bristles.

“You tell one, then! If you’re so good at it, then I bet you’ve got the absolute _perfect_ story already.” She pushes her tongue out at him, just in case he couldn’t tell she was being sardonic.

“Y’know what?”

He sits up, taken over by mien of royalty, nose pointed toward the sky.

“Not only will I tell it right, I’ll tell it _better._ You really think with all the things they’ve been through it would have been something ordinary? We already said _fairy tale_. So what other option is there? You know it’s gonna _have_ to be true love’s kiss.”

“Curse?”

“Duh. Enchanted sleep has been a part of half the stories about them we _do_ know already.”

“It wasn’t _enchanted_ —it was a lot more complicated than tha—”

“ _Can it_ , Cielo. A thorny rose is still a rose. Doesn’t matter how much you dress it up any different. ‘Cept this one time, where no one could doubt that it was the power of true love.

“So there’s a mission one day, on some weird world, and _bam,_ sleep again… ‘cept this time there are real rules. No shortcuts. So _once upon a time_ …”

> _Donald and Goofy brought him back to the castle and King Mickey’s study as best as they could carrying him in a bundled heap between them. It was almost funny. With head lolled to the side and arms akimbo it could have been the start of another practical joke at their expense, but Sora was hardly ever this patient in the followthrough. It was unfortunately familiar._
> 
> _“Well, gosh,” said the King, taking in their distress. “What happened?”_
> 
> _“We dunno,” Goofy said, gently setting down his share of decommissioned wielder before grasping at the crinkled parchment peeking from his pocket. He thrusted it toward the King. “When we got to ‘im he was holdin’ this.”_
> 
> _The King held the parchment up to peer at it, and it broke the spell that held Kairi and Riku hovering helpless behind him. They moved to hover helpless beside him then instead while they attempted to parse the message._

In thwarting hubris this curse will test

The strength of truth against this rest.

True lover’s lips naught but can mend,

Pure touch of souls from dreams will rend.

Devotion high placed in a kiss;

Just blood, or bond, or burn will miss.

Love from one side will keep astray.

Return in kind: hold sleep at bay.

Though should there be wrong answers three,

From waking hours he’ll remain free.

> _“We tried everything we could we knew worked before,” Donald said forlornly._
> 
> _“I think we might have to follow the rules this time.”_
> 
> _They turned to look at Riku, who wore no expression. The hand on his hip was the only other indicator he was capable of motion besides the lip between his teeth._
> 
> _“Y’mean y’don’t think you can use the power of waking—”_
> 
> _“The spell is too strong,” Kairi interrupted, shaking her head from where she had crouched beside Sora, a hand on his head. “There’s no way you wouldn’t end up the same way. …Or worse. I won’t let you take that chance, Riku.”_
> 
> _“But if anyone could do it…” the King began, and threw a glance in his direction, but Riku spat out a retaliation before he could continue that line of thought._
> 
> _“Anyone_ could _do it._ Donald _could do it. There isn’t a single person in this room who doesn’t love So—”_
> 
> _He faltered. Everyone else looked on._
> 
> _“And not a single person Sora doesn’t love,” Kairi added. “That’s true. But you already know it’s not the answer: look. “_ Blood, or bond, or burn. _That has to mean family, and friends, and even just attraction… none of those alone will wake him up. It has to be the real thing.”_
> 
> _Everyone turned to look down at her where she cradled Sora in her arms. She flushed violently._
> 
> _“N-no, I don’t…” she said, small, a hand held up to her face with fingers latticed across her open mouth. “I don’t think it would work. I know what you’re thinking, but I don’t think it’s me. Even if he does… feel that way about me,” she said shyly, but shook her head to negate it even before she finished, “…I don’t feel like that anymore. I haven’t for a long time.”_
> 
> _“Are ya sure?”_
> 
> _“I mean…” She turned gradually more pink. “Maybe it took me a minute to get there, but we’re not… I mean. We love each other a lot, but not… the kind of way the curse is looking for. I’m sure about that. I want to make sure there’s not someone better for the job before I even think about trying.”_
> 
> _“How would this thing even know if there_ is _someone?” Riku muttered, tone filled to the brim with disdain. The knuckles of his hand had long since turned white inside the tight ball he kept his hand._
> 
> _“I dunno,” the King replied. “But with this kind of thing, there’s got to be. …I don’t wanna think about what might happen otherwise.”_
> 
> _“It all feels so silly,” Kairi said, but to none of them in particular. She looked off into the distance, a hand at Sora’s brow halfway to sweeping the hair from his eyes in an aborted gesture._
> 
> _“You’re tellin’ me,” Donald replied._
> 
> _“Well,” the King continued, authoritative. “There’s not much we can do ’til we figure it out. I think we oughta go talk to Master Yen Sid and see what he’s got to say about it. But we might as well leave him somewhere comfortable first.” He padded up to the wall of bookshelves in the back of his study and reached up on tippy-toe for a large tome that leaned precariously on a bookend—the instant he set it to rights, the panel of books parted ways to reveal a small entryway, very comfortably the King-sized._
> 
> _Goofy whimpered sadly._
> 
> _“Sora woulda really loved that,” he said, morose. “He woulda thought it was the bee’s knees.”_
> 
> _“He’ll see it soon enough,” Riku said, and strode over to where Kairi sat on her knees. He hefted Sora up into his arms as she relinquished him, shifting at the bicep to keep his head from lolling further, and turned toward the King. “When were you going to mention you had a panic room installed, Mickey?”_
> 
> _“You can never be too prepared,” he responded severely, and led them all inside a darkened chamber set up with a small smattering of furniture._
> 
> _They laid him on a chaise where he slept on peacefully, a hand placed over his chest and the other loose at his side, and then they all surveyed one another for a moment._
> 
> _“Alright, fellas,” the King directed at Donald and Goofy. “I need you with me.”_
> 
> _Goofy gestured ahead with impeccable courtesy to allow Kairi forward. Riku stepped away from the chaise, coiled and ready for recklessness, but the King stopped and leveled him with a look._
> 
> _“Someone oughta stay behind,” he said pointedly, and Riku closed his eyes but nodded, grim. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”_
> 
> _As they huddled down the colonnade Kairi held a hand close to her chest and looked around uncertainly, mouth tugged into a slight frown as they reached farther._
> 
> _“Your Majesty,” she finally entreated, catching his attention so he stopped to look at her, Donald and Goofy halting obediently in his wake. “Your Majesty, you know he’s not going to stay. And I hate to leave Sora there all alone.”_
> 
> _The King gave her one firm nod, and she turned to jog back in the other direction._
> 
> _She quietly cracked open the door to the study again to see that the room was still ajar where they had left it. As she stepped toward it, she heard a voice, and realized that Riku hadn’t disappeared as quickly as she thought. She slowed, hoping she didn’t give her lack of trust away, and crept up and peeked around the doorway as not to startle him should he decide to leave._
> 
> _From what she could see, Riku sat on his knees in the low light of the room, back turned to the door. She caught the last next half of his parting speech._
> 
> _“You know I wouldn’t if I could,” Riku said softly, looking down. “I don’t want to leave you here, but I can’t just stay here and sit by your side if I haven’t done my job now, can I?”_
> 
> _He sighed, paused for a moment._
> 
> _“I know it’s not me,” he said, so quietly that Kairi tensed still to make sure she heard right. “It can’t be. In the long run, it’ll be better off for you that way.”_
> 
> _She craned closer to confirm: he sat reverently before Sora, one of his hands clasped around the one spread over his chest._
> 
> _“Even though it’s not, I’ll do whatever it takes. If there’s someone out there who will be the one, then I’ll find them. I won’t stop until we find a way to fix this.”_
> 
> _Kairi watched Riku look on for a moment in the quiet, and the palm of his other hand as it migrated to rest against the top of Sora’s head just shy of tangling in his hair._
> 
> _“I wish I could save us the trouble, but looks like my luck’s run out when it comes to waking you up. Always knew you’d get lazy on me again. But the one good thing is that it’s not the other way around. They’d never find a way to wake me up, because it’s never gonna be anyone else but you.”_
> 
> _She realized she was frozen to the spot with a hand over her mouth, eyes welled with tears as she watched. Riku remained transfixed as he moved his hand and pressed lightly at Sora’s cheek with his thumb before he pushed the hair from his brow. He muttered something low under his breath as he grazed his fingers across the side of his sleeping face once more, but though the words were unintelligible from where she stood, Kairi comprehended them just fine._
> 
> _The next time he spoke was still soft, but clear._
> 
> _“I’m sorry,” he said, the longing played out obvious on his face. “I’m so sorry.”_
> 
> _Eyes screwed shut with a wave of guilt, he leaned down to kiss him, stole a tender press between their lips for one lingering moment. He placed their foreheads together, then stood, reaching out for one final caress dusted at his cheek._
> 
> _Kairi panicked. He turned, presumably to avoid seeing the results of a fruitless attempt, and she ran as quickly and quietly out of the chamber door as she could before he made it to the entryway._
> 
> _She counted to three, deep breaths, and then threw open the doors to the study to find Riku standing gobsmacked at the threshold, hand poised to take the handle for himself. He stayed caught in her gaze for a second, stricken, and implored with his eyes; she stepped just a shade out of his path without losing his eye._
> 
> _“I have to,” he said softly before she could get in a word._
> 
> _“I know you do,” she said, and took a large step back this time. He stopped, closed his eyes with a thankful nod, and threw her one last look of desperation, possibly fear, before he pushed his way into the colonnade for himself. She sent one last look toward his retreating back before she stepped through and waded in the wake of aching he left behind him, stopped briefly by the wave of sorrow she felt echoed over her heart on his behalf._
> 
> _She progressed through the chamber to take up her watch, and dropped to her knees at Sora’s side in the vacancy left behind, legs splayed out behind her. She crossed her arms over the space on the chaise before her and rested her head in the crook of her elbow, then quelled her anxieties by looking on as his chest rose and fell. He breathed just fine, but Kairi felt just as lost on his behalf—she sighed out a breath of her own._
> 
> _Sora stirred._
> 
> _She gasped and rocketed backwards. She got her bearings with a hand thrown to the floor and curled her legs up beneath her, and stared on wide-eyed with her hand closed in front of her chest in an unconscious gesture of defense. He sat up with a groan, and when he opened his eyes she watched as he cycled through his surroundings in a frenzy and descended to reality three steps at a time. He blinked at her, bewildered._
> 
> _“Curse,” she said simply, otherwise frozen with shock._
> 
> _He turned aside in disbelief for a beat, then shot back up with a tightened brow._
> 
> _“_ Again?”
> 
> _She nodded, open-mouthed, then reached for the crinkled piece of parchment she placed in her pocket for safekeeping and thrust it in his direction; he reached out for it from her hand with care but snatched it closer the instant her fingers had lifted from it._
> 
> _He read, then read again, muttering the words out loud. When he looked up again with a question drawn out over his face she was already shaking her head._
> 
> _“I don’t understand—”_
> 
> _“I mean, a long time ago, but—”_
> 
> _“I’m sorry, I don’t fe—”_
> 
> _“It wasn’t me!” she shouted, panic cracking her voice in the upturn that punctuated it. “I promise. I’m sorry.”_
> 
> _She leveled him with a pleading stare, and he gaped right back at her, taking it in alongside the air to his lungs. He blinked rapidly at her again and held the parchment before him so tightly that it wrinkled in his grasp._
> 
> _“Where is he,” he said finally, hushed and unsteady._
> 
> _“Gummi hangar,” she said, reaching to hold herself close as she moved out of the way. “Hurry.” She had barely stepped aside when he flew past and blew out the door in a breakneck run._
> 
> _She took another glance around at the chamber before she hurried from it herself._
> 
> _When she skidded to the entry to the underground garage she saw the panels lit up on mission control signaling imminent takeoff, and she hunched her shoulders tight and sucked in a breath to steady her nerves before she heard a voice call clear across the hangar with a desperate_ “hey. _” She scrambled around the corner to see Riku as he froze on the ascent to the bay door of the_ Highwind _and turned sharply in the direction of the sound._
> 
> _“Did you know?” Sora shouted, short of breath._
> 
> _“How—” Riku began, interrupting himself when he fell slack-jawed in disbelief._
> 
> _“Did you know it would work?” he repeated with emphasis, holding on to the wall for support with his other hand splayed over his thigh, doubled over as he stared in his direction. Riku’s mouth moved soundlessly as he searched for words, and he shook his head and processed the shock without sparing an answer, struck to the spot._
> 
> _“It can’t be,” he whispered finally, choked with emotion. “You’re… awake. I—_ how _—_ ”
> 
> _Sora, sufficiently recovered, straightened up and strode toward him with conviction, then again asked a question, gently: “Did you know it was you?”_
> 
> _“Impossible.” Riku’s face crumpled into something barely restrained, cascaded by relief, and he resumed shaking his head. “I can’t believe… I’m so glad to see you. You’re here.”_
> 
> _“Thanks for noticing.”_
> 
> _“I was going to look everywhere, I would have done anything—”_
> 
> _“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. You already did.”_
> 
> _Riku blinked at him, measured._
> 
> _“If you knew how to break the curse, then you’d know that’s not true.”_
> 
> _Sora punched out a mirthless laugh in disbelief, and leveled him with a glare._
> 
> _“C’mon, pal. You’re not acting very bright right now. Even I didn’t take this long to put two and two together.”_
> 
> _“You’re awake,” he repeated, awed, then looked down. “You woke up.”_
> 
> _“Yup. Still true. Thanks, by the way. I owe you one.”_
> 
> _“But… it couldn’t have been me.”_
> 
> _“I’m serious. Look at me—would I be here trying to get it through your head if it wasn’t you? Do you really think that?” He dropped his voice low, pleading. “Please? Will you look at me?”_
> 
> _Riku finally moved his gaze up from the ground to do so, fearful. He looked at him for just a second longer, and gave a quiet response almost like a question._
> 
> _“…It worked.”_
> 
> _He shed the denial one blink at a time._
> 
> _“Yeah. It did. Who else could it be?”_
> 
> _“I didn’t think you found your… your_ true love _yet. It wasn’t—you were always mine. But I never thought it meant I would be yours.” Riku turned his head, face broken over with concession, that little gleam of hope escaped untamed. “I’m not usually this glad to be wrong.”_
> 
> _“Great. Now that we’ve figured that one out, you should give it another test run. I’m feeling really sleepy all of a sudden.”_
> 
> _No sooner had Kairi turned away than she heard the footsteps that fast approached._
> 
> _“What happened?” the King asked urgently, flanked by Donald and Goofy. “We got back, but there—“_
> 
> _Kairi held open her arms to block their path and_ shushed _them, motioning to bulldoze them back into the other direction._
> 
> _“Everything’s going to be okay,” she said, shooting an unfinished glance over her shoulder before she turned back to them to see they were held in place. She craned her neck behind one more time as they filed out of the door before she gave up, and added cheerily, “It’s been taken care of.”_
> 
> _“So ya figured out the true love’s kissin’ after all?” Goofy donned a quizzical expression as he held a finger up and tried to piece it all together._
> 
> _“Yeah,” she said, and her face loosened with a slight smile as they looked up at her. “I think they did."  
> _

“Marin, that was…”

“Lovely.”

“I mean, it was something, alright, it was—”

“It was stunning. Immaculate. Admit it.”

Cielo bows her head and concedes.

“It was pretty good, Marin.”

“Warm.”

“Right? Thought you’d like that, Piedra. I even added Master Kairi just for you.”

She doesn’t say anything, but settles down with a satisfied smile. Marin laughs light heartedly.

“So I win, right?” he continues. “That’s the best we’ve got. …Unless someone else wants to become a contender.”

Piedra shrugs.

“No need.”

“Aw, Piedra,” Cielo says, shoulders slumped. “I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t have anything…”

“It’s already great.”

“Which _one_ , though?”

“The real one.”

Marin huffs, aggrieved.

“And what might that look like?”

“Dunno.”

“Well, that’s the point, right? To make a guess? Or do you think you can’t come up with something? I understand not wanting to go up against mine, but you’ve got real great odds that it’ll _at least_ make more sense than Cielo’s—”

“Hey!”

“Fine,” Piedra says emphatically, and they both fall silent. She takes a deep breath, then shifts her shoulders. “Remember. You asked.”

“‘Cuz you’ve gotta pay up. It’s your turn.”

Piedra nods, already lost in the ether of narrative. She holds up a hand, each finger stretching like a monument towards the sky.

“Listen.”

> _“It’s a spell for ‘broadening your horizons,’” said Sora, jabbing a finger at the centerfold of the book in his hands. It crinkled, and the noise was unreasonably loud for such a little thing. “Or was it perspective? Dani told me about it last time I visited.”_
> 
> _“I don’t know about all this, Sora,” Riku teased. “I think maybe you’re supposed to find that on your own.” A thought occurred; he hummed out a dubious note. “Also, Dani thinks salt protects you from dark magic.” If_ that _was true, the Heartless would never have set foot on their island seven years ago. Different worlds, different rules._ Perspective _, thought Riku, snorting._
> 
> _“Aw, play along for once, will ya?” Sora pouted. “It’s not like it can hurt.”_
> 
> _In Riku’s experience, magic, and magic specifically used in pursuit of horizons, broad or familiar, could hurt a whole lot. But this was on the level of powders and peeled apple skins and goofy rhymes. Riku glanced at Sora’s totally-not-performative lower lip and reconsidered. Really, what_ could _it hurt? At worst, Sora would be disappointed and bored. At best, they’d both ‘ooh’ at something vague enough for multiple, increasingly ridiculous interpretations and then move on with their lives. He sighed._
> 
> _“Alright. But then we go have some of whatever it is you’re making for lunch.”_
> 
> _Sora pumped his fist in the air, and Riku felt the hairline cracks in his haphazard mask of annoyance deepen. “What do I have to do again?” he said, hurriedly caulking them with exasperation._
> 
> _Sora grabbed him by the arm, reeling him in and off balance. “Nothing, really. I already did most of it, so you just put your hand out like this and say the magic words—”_
> 
> _His hand and smile felt equally warm. Riku used the necessary step forward to shrug both off. “What,” he said, peering down at the spread held open by Sora’s thumb. “‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this?’”_
> 
> _“No.” Sora stuck out his tongue and pointed down at a line of text. “Just read the spell.”_
> 
> _Heaving a sigh, Riku did as he was told. Sora watched him all the while, wide-eyed with anticipation. One moment passed, then another. The back of his neck felt a little itchy, but nothing else was amiss._
> 
> _“Hey, Sora,” said Riku, when the silence had stretched itself to obvious-failure levels. “I think my vision_ did _get better.”_
> 
> _“Riku,” Sora groused._
> 
> _“No, I’m serious. Hindsight is twenty-twenty—”_
> 
> _He was cut off by a resounding crack of thunder, and where there was nothing but empty space, now there was another Riku, focused, knees bent, keyblade raised, arm extended._
> 
> Not this again _, Riku thought to himself, already exhausted._ Seriously?
> 
> _But it wasn’t ‘this again.’ Not exactly. The Riku in front of them was different—not any version of himself he’d ever known or encountered. Riku had always considered himself tall, but this version of him was taller still, and an indeterminate number of years older. Riku catalogued the differences: hair shorter than he’d ever chosen to wear it, pushed up and away from his eyes, mature; layered, athletic clothing in bold hues featuring full length, comfortable looking sleeves; the barest suggestion of smile lines which ticked up the corners of his mouth as he relaxed- that detail seemed the most shocking of them all._
> 
> _“Oh.” This new Riku glanced between Riku and Sora, dismissing his keyblade with a dignified flick of the wrist. “This is_ today _? Guess I forgot. Time flies.”_
> 
> _“What,” said Riku, which was about the size of it._
> 
> _“Wow,” said Sora, pointing at Riku’s doppelgänger, slack-jawed._
> 
> _"Hey, fellas," said the doppelgänger, lifting his hand in a little wave._
> 
> _Sora nodded once, taking it all in with the steady, good humor of one entirely accustomed to expecting the unexpected. He smacked a fist into his open palm. “Right. Who’s up for goulash?”_
> 
> _Lunch went like this: Sora herded them all into the Mysterious Tower’s kitchen, where Riku ate, and Riku watched, posted like a sentinel on the other side of the table, his plate untouched._
> 
> _“Thanks for that, I was starving,” the_ other _Riku said, which was how Riku was dealing with the whole bizarre situation inside his head: epithets. He pushed his empty plate and flatware forward, into the no man’s land between them, and moved to fiddle with his gloves, slapping them down across his lap. “Got that a bit backward, sorry—it’s almost dinnertime back home, but I don’t think Sora should miss me for a while. King of the kitchen needs room to work, you know how it is.”_
> 
> _Did he? Riku narrowed his eyes, watching his movements for any sign of danger. Far be it from him to trust… himself. The other Riku stretched in his seat, flexing as he reached to adjust his collar; Sora’s eyes followed automatically, which Riku did his best not to notice._
> 
> _“I always miss you, Riku!” chirped Sora, offhand—a protest by rote. “But you know what they say about too many cooks.”_
> 
> _The other Riku smiled at him, fond. The now Riku quietly fumed—_ you’re giving us away, idiot _, he wanted to shout._
> 
> _As if he had read his mind, the other Riku’s attention fixed on him, and him alone._
> 
> _“Sometimes you need the extra help,” he said, stare mild and somehow piercing all at once. He pushed his already coiffed hair away from his face with the heel of his hand and gestured back to the little magic experiment still strewn on the side table behind them. “You know. Sightlines. ‘Perspective.’”_
> 
> _Sora laughed, bright. He tipped his half-empty glass of water to the other Riku in a toast. “Oh, I_ like _you! But yeah, no, my kitchen.”_
> 
> _The easy familiarity prickled at Riku’s neck like the itch he’d felt earlier, but maybe it was a given, considering one of them was a Sora and the other was a Riku. He shook his head to rid himself of the ridiculous thought. “Do I?” he said, addressing the other Riku, and he leaned forward to respond, planting his elbow on the table and his chin in his left hand._
> 
> _“He did always say you did too much on your own. If you want to get technical, I guess this still counts. But don’t worry, I learn.” The overhead light flashed and seized on his knuckles—a sharp, bright stab of gold on his fourth finger. It pierced straight through Riku’s heart, flooding his veins with ice. He was already extremely familiar with the concept of hating himself, but this was something else entirely._
> 
> _“You weren’t wearing that earlier,” Riku choked out, not so much an observation as the very beginning of a list of grievances. “That ring. Not on your finger.”_
> 
> _“Not the most convenient place when wielding a keyblade, no,” the other Riku agreed. He fished inside his shirt again and pulled out a delicate golden chain, hooked on his pinky. It caught the light like a distress beacon._
> 
> _“Why?” Riku demanded, his hand curling into a fist on the table. Like he was following a syncopated beat, the other Riku planted his own left hand just past neutral territory, palm flat and down. The ring clicked against the wood, and Riku deliberately did not look at it. For his part, Sora looked back and forth between them, eyes flinty._
> 
> _“My husband likes it when I do. Something about signalling peacetime. And_ I _like indulging him.” He shrugged. “If you’re wondering, they match. One of us,” and here a curious sort of smile stole across his face, “is_ terminally _sentimental. It’s mortifying.”_
> 
> _Riku’s free hand, hanging by his leg, balled into a fist to match its twin._
> 
> _Sora made a soft sound. The tips of his ears were red, but his face was blanched of color. “Haha, uh, wow.” He ran a hand over the back of his head. “Husband, wow. Someone I know, best friend?” For the life of him, Riku could not understand why Sora was throwing_ him _the accusatory stare, and not the other Riku, who clearly deserved it. “How was the wedding? Did I give a great speech? Bet I gave a great speech.”_
> 
> _The other Riku favored him with a pitying sort of look. “You cried on the cake. Little Chef almost hopped onto your head and drove you into a wall for it.”_
> 
> _“I’m not,” Riku managed, pushing past the wall of white noise in his head. “I didn’t—We’re not—”_
> 
> _“Sounds like me!” Sora said, though the bright, happy note was oddly choked. Riku passed him his glass of water without a second thought, and Sora accepted it, draining it in one go._
> 
> _The other Riku observed this and raised a single, cool eyebrow. “Is it really such a surprise?”_
> 
> _Riku felt a muscle in his cheek jump. “It’s_ impossible _.”_
> 
> _The other Riku scoffed. “It’s not even improbable and you know it.”_
> 
> _“Uh, hold up, Riku—” Sora shook his head. “No, not_ you— _” Riku startled as Sora laid a hand on his arm. “You know who too?” he said, blue eyes huge in his face._
> 
> _How was he supposed to answer that?_
> 
> _“I—” Riku swallowed, tearing his eyes away from that searchlight stare only to land on Sora’s hand on his bicep._
> 
> _“Look, ‘Road to Dawn,’ you need to lighten up,” the other Riku cut in, toying with the ring in a way that projected idle familiarity. He spun it around his finger as he tipped his head to indicate Sora. “Don’t worry. He helps.”_
> 
> _“Hello? Can anyone hear me?” Sora’s voice was a touch hysterical. “_ Married _? You said married. To_ who _?”_
> 
> _Riku tensed in his seat, shoulders drawing close to his ears. His lips went thin as he held his tongue, not unlike a wildflower pressed between the pages of a book. The other Riku smirked at him, rapping the knuckles of his left hand against the table._
> 
> _“That’s whom, Sora.”_
> 
> _“Gesundheit.” Sora’s eyes narrowed. “You gonna answer my question?”_
> 
> _He snorted, clearly delighted, even as Riku made warning eyes at him. “You really know how to chase a guy down.”_
> 
> _Sora went very still. “I’m...” His hand fell away, and his face went oddly blank. “Um. I think I’m a little… lost.”_
> 
> _The other Riku opened his mouth, and Riku fell victim to a sudden and extremely violent coughing fit. Sora was there immediately, clapping him soundly on the back once, twice, and then, when the last pathetic wheeze was out of his system, he spread his fingers wide over Riku’s upper back, shifting so that his thumb was in the perfect position to skim comfortingly across his nape._
> 
> _“You okay?” he asked, soothing. “Was it the smoked paprika? I think I got a little heavy-handed—”_
> 
> _“Let him work through it alone,” the other Riku said, flapping his hand carelessly. “He thinks he never learns until he does.”_
> 
> _“Absolutely not!” cried Sora, aghast at the mere suggestion. His hand tightened protectively over the back of Riku’s neck. “I would never—”_
> 
> _“See?” The other Riku preened, hooking his thumb at Sora. The ring flashed again._ Monster _, Riku seethed. “Exactly what I mean.”_
> 
> Am I really this awful _, Riku thought, in utter disbelief, because that was easier than thinking about Sora touching him the way he was._ Was it like this for the replica back in Castle Oblivion? Am I really this much of a—
> 
> _“You’re the same everywhere, aren’t you?” the other Riku said, shaking his head fondly. His regard softened, sweet as a lullaby. “You’re really making me miss you right now.”_
> 
> _“Oh,” said Sora. “Um.”_
> 
> _Riku snapped, clinging desperately to outrage where reason dared not tread. “Cut that out!”_
> 
> _“Ri-ku!” Sora chastised him. “Be nicer to yourself!”_
> 
> _“Yes, sir,” said the other Riku._
> 
> _“I wasn’t talking about_ you— _I—argh!”_
> 
> _“Weren’t you?”_
> 
> _Sora threw his hands up in the air, huffed, and devoted himself to tucking in on his admittedly delicious goulash instead, visibly washing his hands of the pair of them. That suited Riku just fine—so long as he didn’t follow the other Riku’s breadcrumb trail to the truth._
> 
> _“Aren’t you—breaking rules by being here?” he hissed, jerking his head towards Sora as surreptitiously as he could manage. His hair shifted as he moved; the lingering warmth from Sora’s hand burned, like a brand on the back of his neck. “What if you change the past?”_
> 
> _The other Riku scoffed. “I can’t_ change _the past. It already happened.” He paused, tapping a finger to his nose. “Will happen? I don’t have time for tense- like I said, you think we never get it until we go through it, and I’m telling you—this? Is it. You’re lucky you got the direct path on the first try and not one of the weird ones—”_
> 
> _“Hey, actually, for the record?” Sora leaned past Riku to cheerfully serve himself a second helping. “I‘m_ totally _lost.”_
> 
> _“No you’re not, Pinoke,” the other Riku countered. “By the way, I’ve seen you lost, and while I’m here—not sure where exactly ‘phased out of this plane of reality’ falls under ‘in sickness and in health,’ so think about that next time you—”_
> 
> _Riku cleared his throat loudly. Sora and the other Riku ignored him._
> 
> _“I’m just saying, it’s a very lucky thing I don’t have to worry about going gray early—”_
> 
> _Sora bristled. The serving spoon clattered against the dish. He fisted his hands and propped them on his hips, every inch the exasperated schoolmaster. “Oh, that’s rich, Mister Hide-and-Go-Missing—”_
> 
> What did I do to deserve this, _Riku groaned, then winced. Maybe the better question was what hadn’t he done—_
> 
> _“Would you look at that,” the other Riku declared, fixing his eyes on the middle distance. He stood. “I think it’s half past time for you two to finally talk. And for me to go. Thanks for the groundwork, past me. If I remember right, what happens next is… a lot. You’re gonna want to give him some of the food after he’s done crying. Well, not_ him-him _, but—”_
> 
> _“Hey!” Sora barked, leaping to his feet too. “Oh no you don’t, you think I don’t know what you’re doing—”_
> 
> _“Save it for the Riku you know. He’s the one who needs it.” The other Riku faced his younger self. “Good luck running from_ that _. You’re not nearly as good at it as you think you are.”_
> 
> _“Worse ways to be dethroned,” Riku said weakly._
> 
> _The other Riku nodded in approval. “Now you’re getting it.”_
> 
> _“Who’s running?” Despite the cavalier tone, there was a thread of misery in Sora’s voice now. He reached out to stop him, then appeared to think better of it, pulling back to ball his hand into a fist. “Look—please, forget everything else, just tell me—” Free of pretense, his voice shook. “Please just... tell me you never do that again—that you don’t run off on me—”_
> 
> _“I don’t.” Shaking his head, the other Riku clasped Sora’s hands firmly between his own. “Never again.” The ring sparked against the dark fabric of Sora’s gloves, bright as a falling star. “It’s like I said,” he teased, not unkind. “I learn. After all, I’ve got a great teacher.”_
> 
> _“Really?”_
> 
> _He sounded so pained, and so hopeful in spite of that. Riku’s heart crimped; he never wanted to hear Sora that way ever again, especially not because of him._
> 
> _“Slow and steady on the path,” the other Riku assured him. He cocked his head, like he was hearing a far off sound, then squared his shoulders. “Riku—I don’t need to tell you to take care of him. And Sora…”_
> 
> _Something swept over his face, strange and aching, and that same thing hooked behind Riku’s ribcage. He knew it well, even if he’d never seen just what it did to his features—embarrassing. Sincere. Undeniable._
> 
> Please _, Riku appealed, silent._
> 
> _The other Riku jerked, as if he’d heard. And maybe he had—across the years, through memory. With a careful smile directed to Sora, he pressed his hand over his heart. “Thanks for lunch. Bye.”_
> 
> _And with that, he winked out of existence._
> 
> _For the second time that day, the silence stretched. This time, Riku had nothing to say to break it; Sora did the honors._
> 
> _“So,” he said._
> 
> _“So,” Riku echoed._
> 
> _“You cut your hair,” said Sora, staring at the empty space where the other Riku had been._
> 
> _Riku shut his eyes._
> 
> _“And you got married.”_
> 
> _“Guess so,” Riku murmured, skirting Sora’s words like distant relatives at a party. He sketched out the master plan in his mind: if he maintained a casual air and excused himself to get a drink, then he could slip away to die alone and exact his final, petty vengeance on his future self in the process—_
> 
> _Sora’s cracking voice stopped him in his tracks._
> 
> _“To me.”_
> 
> _Riku froze. His mouth worked around words, none of them sufficient or appropriate. Why hadn’t language anticipated this exact scenario? What were you supposed to say when your own future self showed up to gleefully upend your whole life and everything you held close? He felt a brief twinge of sympathy for Xehanort._
> 
> _Once again, Sora’s voice stayed his thoughts. “You get married to_ me _.”_
> 
> _Tears rimmed his eyes, but he was smiling. Smiling, of all things. What did that mean? Still at a loss, Riku struggled for words. Where were they when he needed them?_
> 
> _What ended up croaking out of him was: “How?”_
> 
> _Sora let out a watery laugh. “You don’t really think I’m that dense, do you?”_
> 
> _Riku’s teeth clicked as he shut his mouth. He hadn’t done any fishing in years now, not since he first left the Destiny Islands, but he still recognized a baited hook when he saw it._
> 
> _“Riku,” Sora sighed, pinching the root of his nose. “I was giving you—him—you? Ugh, whatever. I was giving you a chance to be_ honest.”
> 
> _Honest. Riku took his fear and coiled it up in his fists, trying his best to pressurize it into courage. Sora_ knew _. And that was the hardest part, right? He’d figured it out, but he deserved to hear it plain. And Riku… for his own sake, he needed to be the one to say it, here and now._
> 
> _“In that case,” he murmured, forcing himself to meet Sora’s eyes. “I don’t think he’s the one who should be honest with you.”_
> 
> _“Oh?” said Sora, a smile breaking over his face, slow, and then all at once, brilliant as sunrise._
> 
> _“Yeah.” Riku let out a long breath. “Got a lot of truth to tell.” He shook his fists loose and let the fear drop like a stone. “I don’t exactly know where to start.”_
> 
> _Sora smiled, taking his freed hands. “That’s okay, let me.” Riku squeezed his fingers gratefully, and Sora expelled a breathless sort of laugh. “Um. Okay. So about being honest—for half a second there before I figured it out I really did think I messed ‘us’ up so bad you ended up married to someone else besides me—”_
> 
> _Riku’s mouth fell open. “What,” he said, for what felt like the hundredth time that day. “Who would I—Sora—”_
> 
> _“I don’t know!!” he moaned, hiding his face in his and Riku’s combined hands. “Some cute guy who doesn’t end up crying on your wedding cake like a dummy?”_
> 
> “Our _cake-” Riku tugged carefully, trying to coax Sora out of his slump. “Sora, I don’t_ care _that you cried—will cry—ugh.” He trailed off as he noticed Sora’s shoulders shaking. Was he crying? Riku’s heart sunk. No, he’d just promised himself—_
> 
> _Sora tilted his face up, eyes sparkling. Laughing—he was_ laughing _, Riku realized, so freely and purely that his face radiated joy. Stunned, Riku drank it in, and Sora took advantage of his shock to reach up and cup his face in his hands._
> 
> _“It would be like this, wouldn’t it?” Sora wondered aloud. He traced some invisible line over Riku’s cheek. “The dumb spell and the goulash and all of it.”_
> 
> _Riku scratched the bridge of his nose, wishing he knew what to do with his hands or any of the rest of his body, really. It was like no part of him could or would settle—except for what already rested under Sora’s steadying touch. Breathless, he glanced down at Sora’s lips._
> 
> _“Yeah,” he rasped. “Like the universe would ever let us be normal.”_
> 
> _Sora grinned, drawing him close with the tips of his fingers. Nothing else for it. He leaned down as Sora went up on his toes, his eyes drifted shut, and—_
> 
> _A crash resounded from the other end of the room._
> 
> _Riku took in a sharp breath, counted down from five, and re-evaluated his earlier revenge plan._
> 
> _“Uh. Riku.”_
> 
> _The bewilderment in Sora’s voice was enough to pull him out of the darkness. He opened his eyes, and followed the line of Sora’s finger to whatever was in store for them next._
> 
> _Where before there was nothing, now there was Sora, but not_ his _Sora—another one, grimy and grim-faced. His hair was close cropped, undercut on the left side, and the blue of his eyes was dulled, underscored by dark circles as prominent as bruises. He was dressed in black from head to toe. Lean, wiry, sun-starved, he held himself like a wary animal. The arm that held his keyblade was metal to the elbow, dark to match his weapon. It dropped, and so did his warped, twisted keyblade, clattering at his feet._
> 
> _“Riku?” he said, his face contorting with tears. “It can’t be—I watched you_ die— _”_

Cielo starts to shriek, then catches herself to tamp it back down to a dignified hiss. Marin has no such consideration, and bellows his confusion clear across the plains.

“What was _that?_ ” he yells.

“Aw, _c’mon_ ,” Cielo pleads at the same time.

 _“_ That was _stupid_ , they didn’t even _kiss yet—”_

 _“_ They don’t get so much as an ‘ _I love you_ ’ beforehand?”

“Patience,” Piedra says, crossing her arms and closing her eyes. “They get it right.”

“Yeah?” Cielo asks, then grimaces as a thought occurs. “…How many more versions have to die before they do?”

Piedra blinks, then looks off into space, beginning to count on her hands. Cielo and Marin shriek in tandem this time.

 _“Ugh_ , fine, Piedra, you lose, yours is the worst.” Marin crosses his arms sullenly, and aims a legitimate pout at the ground. Piedra catches Cielo’s eye for a moment and winks; Cielo covers her mouth to stifle the giggles that bubble up in immediate response. “I won’t ever ask you again. _Eugh_. It left a bad taste in my mouth. What a crummy note to end on.”

“You asked,” Piedra repeats matter of factly. He huffs.

“And I wish I hadn’t, but it’s too late. Now what?”

“Well… I didn’t finish mine,” Cielo says emphatically.

“What do you _mean_ , you didn’t finish yours?”

“I mean that’s obviously not how it _ended_ ended, right? And it can’t on that note if that’s how Piedra ends hers.”

She looks toward Piedra, who smiles. She purses her lips and moves on.

“See, it was always supposed to be that way, they just skipped a couple steps because after the test they were… _bonded_ , you see?”

“Bonded,” repeats Marin, unimpressed.

“Soulmates.”

“Yeah! They spent so long connected at the heart that they couldn’t stay apart if they were in the same room together, and it started getting worse. So… I guess they talked about it. Eventually. See…”  
  


> _Not long after the test Master Yen Sid called them forth for another briefing. In his study Sora and Riku stood at attention as they waited for him to return. It was a fair and reasonable distance, and Riku chose not to think anything further of it._
> 
> _That is, until Sora slid over by enough degrees to close the gap, then reached out and took his hand._
> 
> _Riku shot a wide-eyed glance at him and begged the question. Sora looked lazily up at him, but shrugged, and didn’t relinquish his hand. His matter of fact expression dared Riku to comment._
> 
> _Riku wasn’t someone who backed down from a dare._
> 
> _“What are you do—_ why _?”_
> 
> _“I felt like I had to. So I did.”_
> 
> _He squeezed Riku’s hand tight in his._
> 
> _“…Had to,” Riku repeated, monotone._
> 
> _“Yup.”_
> 
> _“That’s interesting.”_
> 
> _“Yeah. Thought so too. But it feels right. …Do you want me to stop?”_
> 
> _“I want you_ full stop _,” Riku said, and tensed as he realized it came out of his mouth before he signed his approval—it was just as much a surprise to him as anything. He shook his head; they were well beyond that at this point. “So if that’s why you’re playing this joke, then it’s not a very funny on—”_
> 
> _Yen Sid emerged from the antechamber. They yanked back their hands and resumed ramrod vigilance, fallen into a hush._
> 
> _“Though it is customary to allow only a keyblade master access to the higher ritual, there are some more uncommon knowledges that may be shared amongst all wielders. Considering the gravity of our current circumstance, it would behoove you both…”_
> 
> _He trailed off, and looked pointedly at the two of them. Sora had inched closer each passing second, crossing and recrossing his arms with each word so that each minor adjustment put him more securely into the range where he could brush Riku’s arm with his own. While at first they were allowed a certain grace, at the point where he snaked an arm around Riku’s shoulder they started to receive the hairy eyeball, and while he wasn’t strictly_ squirming _, per se—well, yeah, okay, he was squirming—Riku was finally forced to turn to him and hiss, “_ What are you doing? Cut it out _,” when Sora slid that same arm down and sat it at his waist._
> 
> _“I can’t,” he said, with just enough helplessness to be believable. “I’m trying, I swear.”_
> 
> _Riku pleaded at Yen Sid with wide eyes, but he took no mercy on him. He shook his head._
> 
> _“It is not unprecedented for there to remain residual feelings of…_ connection _after such an ordeal as you carried out in the Sleeping Realms,” he said evenly. “It will often manifest in a physical intimacy similar to what you are experiencing now, and will be compounded by the strength of the initial affection between parties.”_
> 
> _“_ Physical intim—”
> 
> “ _We shall resume our instruction at a later juncture. I should normally anticipate a present dissipation in the intensity, though given the length of time spent entwined… it is unpredictable. Prior occasions found both parties’ urge to remain in close proximity waning within hours, but we may yet be surprised. There were not as many variables at play in those scenarios, though the connection grew stronger for a time before it began to diminish. …Though here it appears quite strong already.”_
> 
> _Riku grimaced, still taut, measuredly holding out his arms even as Sora wrapped himself more tightly around him and buried himself in the space remaining under his arm. He was practically inside him as it were, the both of them merged into one entity great and terrible. Hearing that it was only projected to get worse was the most foreboding news he could have been told, considering that he expended inhuman amounts of willpower already avoiding the temptation to take a deep dive underneath his skin in return._
> 
> _Yen Sid looked at them pointedly once more, then waved a hand in dismissal. Riku, an unwitting host, delicately pried his lamprey from its perch and turned to leave before the parasite could latch on again._
> 
> _Riku should have known something was suspicious when they remained more than a foot away from one another upon leaving the study and stayed separate for another moment after that. As his mind wandered, tragically unguarded in the yawning silence, he glanced upon a door, barely given opportunity to wonder if there had always been one there before he found himself pulled through it._
> 
> _“Okay, good,” Sora said, pulling him flush. “I thought we’d never be alone.”_
> 
> _“_ Good? _”_
> 
> _“Great, actually.” He pulled him down into an open-mouthed kiss, and took a hard seat on a surface behind him and dragged him to his level. Riku sighed into it, eyes fluttering closed, but—_
> 
> _“Stop,” he said, pulling away. “Can we slow down for just a second?”_
> 
> _“I’ll try,” Sora responded, directly to his mouth. One hand fell to hold him at the waist, and he moved the other flat on Riku’s chest for safekeeping. “It’s just a lot harder than normal.”_
> 
> _“Huh?” Riku said, bewildered—he only just avoided responding to his mouth in turn, but remembered dignity enough to look him in the eyes as he yelped in confusion, and then yelped again in surprise when he felt a hand at his backside pull him forward even more. “Hey—”_
> 
> _“If you’re gonna try and tell me it’s not the real deal because of the…_ residue _, or whatever, don’t bother. I started to feel this way right before the test.” Sora caught Riku’s lip between his teeth and successfully distracted him for another moment before Riku broke away again and demanded further explanation. He sighed and continued. “It only got stronger and stronger the longer we were apart. Or, as it turns out, the longer we_ weren’t _. The biggest difference now is that it’s harder to stop myself. So I decided not to.”_
> 
> _Riku choked out a little noise of shock, but had it swallowed away before it could travel much further. They proceeded to lose more than a few more moments to tongues in mouths before Riku protested again as a last-ditch token, shaking his head even as he tangled his fingers in Sora’s hair and directed a half-lidded gaze to his swollen lips as if he were admiring his handiwork._
> 
> _“Maybe we should wa—”_
> 
> _“If I didn’t already sense in my heart that you felt the same way, I might have tried a little harder. But since we’re gonna have to wait it out anyway, we might as well do it together. Since misery loves company and all that.”_
> 
> _“Can’t argue there,” Riku conceded weakly, and they gave one another one more heated look before he swooped down for one more biting kiss then dropped to his kn—_

“Cielo, Cielo, stop—” Marin shouts, and Piedra throws up her hands with a little cry of her own.

“Wait, what do you mean?”

Cielo pauses to look at them, red spreading onto her cheeks.

“I didn’t sign up for—you gotta _warn_ a guy before you change it up on us like that, Cielo. You’re taking it too far.”

“Little risque,” Piedra says, almost apologetically.

“Here you were the one… unacceptable.” He wipes at his nose with his palm. “…Finish it later.”

“Later,” Piedra agrees emphatically.

Cielo laughs, a chime that crinkles her eyes before she can catch it happening. They look on, and Marin starts to giggle, and then Piedra lets escape a soft _whuff_ , and they’re all giggling hysterically, hanging off of one another for support like hooks to wire.

“Okay, okay,” Cielo says, wiping a tear from her eye. “But don’t you want to know how it ended?”

Piedra simply smiles, and gestures out at the masters on the training ground, seated back to back and engaged in spirited conversation.

“Ah,” Cielo says, still finding it hard to tamp down the grin. “I guess you’re right.”

“I mean, but it took a minute,” Marin offers. “Right?”

“Oh, of course. They had to go hide away together for ages afterward before they could rejoin polite society. Mostly because of all the cuddling.”

Piedra scrunches up her face and sticks her tongue out, but it’s with glee.

“And then what?” Marin says. Cielo looks up at him, peering at him like she’s waiting for him to goad her on, but when he tilts his head it’s nothing but supportive.

“Well,” she says, putting a hand to her jaw and looking thoughtfully into the distance for the perfect response. “Then they did talk about it. _Really_ talked. And… then…”

She looks back to where Piedra had gestured earlier, pursing her lips to stop the next wave of smiling. She fails before it reaches her eyes.

“Well. We already know that part.”

“Happily ever after,” Piedra supplies.

“Forever and ever and ever, the end.”

“Precisely. There isn’t much left to tell.”

“Not from _us_ ,” Marin says, and there’s a glint in his eye.

“What do you mean?” Cielo says absently, then turns to get a real look at him and blanches. “Oh, _no_ you don’t.”

“An investigation,” Piedra affirms with a nod.

“Truth must be served! These are all well and good, but there are key details missing in all of them, you know. First off, I think all of us made Master Riku _entirely_ too serious, so we’re all out of the running. We have to find out the _real_ answer for ourselves.” Marin stands tall, face shaped in a confident mask and hands fisted to his hip in a confident pose.

“Do we?” Cielo adds queasily.

“Don’t tell me you’re not brave enough. And after all the progress you’ve made today!”

“I’m really not.”

”You’re volunteering?”

“Who else would be brave enough?” Marin sighs, enormously put upon. “It always does have to be me to save the day. What would you two do without me?”

He flashes a grin down at them. Cielo shakes her head.

“Race ya,” Marin says with a wink, then tears down the hill. Cielo and Piedra shoot one another a panicked glance, but Piedra smiles, wide. Caught off guard, Cielo laughs, and they both lunge to skid simultaneously down after him, shrieking all the way.

The trainees tumbleweed down the hill in a clamor of dust and din, slapping toothlessly at each other in between peals of giggles. Sora makes to mark a token disapproval, but looks toward Riku first before he echoes the sentiment. Instead, he finds him looking on with a fond gaze, a smile tugging up on the side of his mouth.

“You sap,” he crows with mock appall, falling into a grin of his own. “You big _softie_.”

Riku only shrugs, then roughly jostles him from his back. Rising, he bears his weight down on his other arm as he steels himself to transform once more into every bit the revered master. It always takes another few drops of effort when Marin is involved—their most colorful trainee extricates himself from the other two and dusts himself off with precision, and when he flounces up with a defined melodrama, Sora shoots a look over at Riku to watch him put in that extra mile to school his face. Sora stands and looks down to hide a grin of his own. If Marin attempts to bat his eyelashes at Riku again, then the children may finally catch a break in the facade, but so far they all continue to indulge one another by adhering to prescribed roles.

“Master Riku,” Marin gasps, doubled over, a hand thrown up to commandeer his full attention in that way the children tend toward when entreating their expertise to settle some imaginary score. The other two jog up to hover over him, stretched tight with an awkward tension. “Master Riku, I need your advice.”

“Can’t promise it’ll be good,” he responds. Sora stifles a laugh at the way his face evens out, and to take his mind away he casually summons his blade to swing it around like a baton.

Marin’s head shoots up, and his face falls into a contrived agony, helplessness at every pore and sorrow in every note. Sora plants his blade in the ground and leans onto it like one would a cane, staring resolutely downward so as not to guffaw the moment away.

“I don’t know what to do,” Marin pleads. “I’ve never felt like this before. It feels… like I’m living just for someone else right now. Like I just can’t go on without…” he trails off with a sigh. “There’s someone who won’t let go of my heart, and there’s nothing, _nothing_ in the whole wide Ocean Between that matters to me more, even,” and he turns a hand to his chest, aghast, “even _my own_ feelings. It’s _awful_. I’ve gotta know… am I gonna make it? I don’t know if I can, if all the light my heart ever needed is… someone else.”

It’s a nice notion, Sora thinks. He’s lucky he’s never had to think about it too hard. In fact, he feels pretty well taken care of himself on that front. Isn’t it the funniest thing? Smiling absently, he turns back to observe the others.

Cielo stands with her arms out and hands balled into fists, her jaw tight and eyes wide; Piedra wraps her arms around herself tightly and looks on with a passive look that edges on anxiety—it’s clearly not either of them he’s mooning about. They seem more worried about Marin embarrassing himself than anyone else.

Riku only smiles, not so concerned; he looks away and closes his eyes for a moment as the trainees lean in to hear his response.

“I know the feeling,” he says softly.

Sora loses grip on his keyblade and it slides out of his hand to send him crashing face first into the ground.

Cielo lets out a tiny squeak and gasps in harmony with the others. Sora scrambles to his knees and looks up to find Riku’s extended hand, then accepts it with an embarrassed grin, leaping up to rub the back of his head. Riku turns back to Marin.

“I think the only advice I can give… is to make sure you can be someone’s light right back,” Riku says in that same soft tone. He reaches out to ruffle Marin’s hair as a dismissal. “Good luck, kiddo.”

Marin is caught in a starry eyed gaze for a moment before Piedra gently takes him by the elbow.

“Thank you,” she says for him, smile wide, and turns to follow Cielo, who has already taken off full speed in the other direction. All three fall in line and start to disappear, screeching incoherently with increasing volume the farther they move away.

“Wonder what’s gotten into them,” Riku asks fondly, shoving Sora gently at the arm so he sways in place, still staring after them. He doesn’t respond, only falls into step with Riku as they walk in the other direction back toward the Tower’s main level.

“Real smooth back there,” Riku ribs as they approach the threshold. “I admire how you can lose your cool like that in front of the kids. A real role model.”

Sora refuses the bait, still looking straight ahead as he humorlessly pushes his way through the entryway and follows him through to the library. Riku grabs a volume laying abandoned on the top of a bookshelf near the door and brings it with him as he travels toward the back, collecting here and tidying there before he interrupts Sora’s conspicuous silence from over his shoulder.

“Are you really mad? C’mon, I’m just kidding around. You know they’ve already forgotten about it.”

Sora turns on his heel to whip a piercing gaze his direction, finding him settling into a seat on the surface of one of the library’s great wooden desks and using the chair before it as a footstool.

“Why hasn’t there been anyone else?” he rushes, sharp. He backs down for a moment, looking down at the floor with arms so tense his veins are visible. He breathes, loosening up and cracking his neck before looking back up at Riku. “What you said to the kids. What did you mean?”

Riku pauses, shaking his head before he decides on a condescending smile. His brow pinched, he waves it away with a gesture of his arm.

“Nothing, hey. You know I’m just making stuff up to get them out of our hair. It doesn’t mean anything, don’t read into it.”

“Don’t tell me I’m wrong. Or better yet, answer the question. Why hasn’t there ever been anyone else?”

“Anyone else for _what_.”

“For you.”

“Why are you… what are you even _talking_ about?”

“Don’t pretend that you have no idea what I mean. ‘ _Someone who matters’_ —did I miss it somehow? And if you can’t answer that, then maybe you can tell me why I’m so happy there _hasn’t_ been anyone else. Tell me why I hope there isn’t ever. Because I don’t know what I woulda done if there was.”

Riku looks up, caught in the headlights, and exhales with caution.

“Don’t make me say it.”

“Say _what_? What you knew all this time and never bothered to fill me in?”

“I’ve told you every day!”

“It helps if you say it _out loud!_ ”

“I didn’t need to!” Riku negotiates back down from a shout and looks to the floor. “I never needed to. I was always gonna be content if I was lucky enough to stay by your side. I could still be what you needed. I guess I thought one day I’d stop wanting you. I never did. But you’ve always been enough for me.”

“And how would you know if you never asked? Maybe I’m _too much_.”

“Never.”

“You wanna find out?”

Sora strides over to kick the chair out from under him so it screeches against the floor and insinuates himself between his legs. Riku looks down at him, with his mouth agape and his hand caught midair.

“What about what I want? ‘Cuz I’ll admit you’ve got me beat: I’m not that patient. I don’t want to wait even one more second. I won’t wait one more—”

The desk gives with the slightest of creaks when he pushes up against it. A crystal ink reservoir thuds to the hardwood, its matching pen following close behind, the slide of parchment paper closely afterward.

Marin throws an unnecessarily pointed coughing fit when they finally arrive to start training that day a clean half hour after it’s supposed to begin. The other two glare at him from where they flank him on one of the stone benches in the Tower’s courtyard.

“They didn’t even bother to stagger entries—” Marin starts under his breath, but Cielo hisses his name with venom at the same time Piedra throws her boot into his shin at high velocity. The three of them look up with beatific grins. Sora grins right back.

Cielo hops up, ever the sycophant.

“Master Riku, I already led us through warm-ups for the morn…”

She trails off when she looks up at him and blanches, and stalls for a moment as he follows her eye and abruptly tugs the collar of his vest to zip it up all the way. There’s another aborted cry from Marin’s direction.

 _Oops_ , thinks Sora, to his credit with at least a _little_ shame.

“You know what?” Riku says with a resigned sigh. “Why don’t we reconvene in the afternoon? Exercises of your choice for now.”

They don’t have to be told twice—they scramble away before another moment can pass.

Riku replaces them on the bench, leaning back and stretching out his legs.

“Little more than I bargained for, sometimes,” he says wryly as Sora comes to join him.

“Aww,” Sora replies, reaching over to take one of his hands. “I mean. You’re a little dry, but I think you’re doing fine.”

He breathes out a sardonic laugh in response as Sora cranes up to rest his chin on his shoulder, squeezing tightly on hands still clasped together. Riku squints in concern for a moment at the noise in the background, then shakes his head.

“What do you think the kids are yelling about?” he asks idly. Sora shrugs.

“Beats me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings, just in case: Piedra's Tale has a drive-by mention of major character death (in another universe! for the _drama!_ ) and Cielo's Tale Part II, Electric Boogaloo includes some heavy petting that takes place in the context of canonverse and leaves off with strongly implied sexual content. 
> 
> Though belated, this was meant to knock out 4 out of the 9 days of #sorikuweek2019 prompts | Day 2: Distance, Day 5: Aftermath, Day 7: Curse, and Day 8: Danger, though not quite in that order. 
> 
> In the next issue of Better Homes and Radiant Gardens: Make sure to check out the Gummi SkyMall catalogue insert for an incredible deal on collectible plates commemorating Ansem the Wise's reinstatement as ruler. See you next time on "Today In Chat."


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